The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a modular printing apparatus and method and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a modular printing apparatus and method where separate modules carry out individual printing functions and the modules are assembled at the printing locations to carry out specified printing operations.
Digital printing employs a functional unit having several ink injectors, each injector applying one color. A controller moves the functional unit over the printed sheet (or the printed sheet under the functional unit) and instructs the ink injectors when to inject ink. To speed up the printing process, a digital printing system may employ several functional units concurrently, and a functional unit may have hundreds of injectors of the same color.
Digital printing creates images of higher spatial resolution, and higher color resolution i.e. many more shades of each color. The result is an image of relatively high quality. Digital printing requires very short preparation prior to printing however the printing itself is slow and inefficient relative to the alternate system of screen printing.
Printing often involves an additional stage of curing, where the ink is dried. Thus far digital printing on paper and fabrics are the same. However printing on fabrics often involve additional stages such as a wetting process which may be required shortly before, during or just after application of the ink to prevent bleeding of the ink into the fabric. Specific processes distinctive of fabric printing such as ironing to provide a flat surface or as a way of curing may be also required.
Different factories may be involved in different printing processes and it is inefficient to design different machines for each factory. U.S. Pat. No. 8,292,395 issued 23 Oct. 2012 details a matrix construction in which modular units are provided by the manufacturer and constructed on site according to the requirements of the factory. The matrix requires each module to be fully aligned with as many as four neighboring modules, and use over the years has shown that difficulties arise where factory floors are not sufficiently flat over the large area that the matrix requires. Also a large amount of space is required at either end of the matrix, one for a loading area and one for an unloading area. Use over the years has shown that not all factory settings have such space available.